Media device ownership and media use: Associations with sedentary time, physical activity and fitness in English youth

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine whether ownership and use of electronic media were associated with sedentary time and cardiorespiratory fitness (fitness) in youth. We also aimed to determine if associations were independent of physical activity (PA).Fitness was measured using the 20 m shuttle-run. PA, sedentary time, ownership of media devices and media use were self-reported.Participants (n = 678, age 10–15 years) reported daily sedentary time of 620 (±210) min. Forty-one percent of participants had low PA and 50.4% had low fitness.Higher weekend sedentary time was associated with low fitness in girls (p = 0.005) and boys (p 10 h or ~85% of each waking day sedentary. Use of social media was associated with higher sedentary time in both sexes and with low fitness in girls. Reducing social media use in youth offers one potential target for intervention. Behaviours associated with sedentary time differed from predictors of low fitness. The complex and often sex-specific interactions identified between sedentary time, PA and fitness suggest the need for carefully targeted interventions to reduce sedentary time and improve fitness in English youth. Keywords: Television, Cell phones, Text messaging, Social media